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TikTok admits to spying on U.S. users as effort to ban the app heats up

69 points| CharlesW | 3 years ago |mashable.com

28 comments

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[+] thefounder|3 years ago|reply
Tiktok has been used by the Chinese gov just like the U.S gov has been using its own internet companies(i.e apple, microsoft, google, meta etc). We already know from Snowden. I really dont understand why people act surprised.

If any national or supranational gov(i.e E.U) cares about privacy and security of its citizens it should ban data transfer and data access outside its jurisdiction(i.e require totally separate entity located in each country/jurisdiction). This would be better for taxes and local jobs too.

[+] foreverCarlos|3 years ago|reply
Every time something like this is posted, the thread is littered with a dozen comments about how this should surprise no one, "water is wet", etc. News does not mean that journalists or the readers are shocked or even surprised. It's a new (or updated) piece of information. So yes, it's OK to have a discussion about it without the snarky comments.

How would your proposed solution solve the problem you outline in the first sentence? If the US bans data transfer outside of its jurisdiction then Apple, Microsoft, etc will stop cooperating with secret government data collection programs?

[+] hulitu|3 years ago|reply
> I really dont understand why people act surprised.

The official narative is: China bad, America good.

The fact that the majority of OS's and Apps that will spy on you is developed by US companies, does not seem to matter.

[+] dmix|3 years ago|reply
> I really dont understand why people act surprised.

I despise when people use this sentence to blow off stories.

It's great you're not surprised. Doesn't make it less important.

[+] powerapple|3 years ago|reply
I assume there are spies working in all different companies, governments don't even need to officially tap into those companies. What the private companies can do is to strength their security, and make sure it cannot happen easily.
[+] rnd0|3 years ago|reply
Well, color me shocked.

I think this is something that's widely known (edit or heavily suspected), but the people who use TikTok as a rule don't care.

[+] ksniwmidjd|3 years ago|reply
We recently learned that Twitter was receiving money from the FBI that enabled the US government to censor users and suppress certain hashtags, etc. But TikTok is seemingly the only one the media is trying to push to get banned. Seems strange. Wish we had an honest media.
[+] dpkirchner|3 years ago|reply
The way that Twitter/FBI relationship has been portrayed by certain people has been dangerously misleading -- don't fall for it. Twitter was compensated for assisting with investigations (e.g. collecting information), which is entirely normal, and has nothing to do with censorship. Don't be a sucker, the people pushing this conspiracy theory are depending on us to not investigate the matter for ourselves and to instead get angry.
[+] bsder|3 years ago|reply
We can need to ban TikTok due to Chinese influence AND can need to fix the fact that the FBI was doing shitty things with Twitter at the same time.

You are not arguing in good faith by framing that as either/or.

The difference between the two problems is quite stark. The ONLY effective hammer that the US has against TikTok is a ban. Against Twitter, there are a range of options that various municipalities, states, etc. can bring to bear.

[+] Ancalagon|3 years ago|reply
Nice, add some fuel to this fire, let it burn.
[+] polartx|3 years ago|reply
Reminds me of when congressman Josh Hawley needled the COO of TikTok for 10 straight minutes trying to get a direct answer as to whether any TikTok employees with access to US user data were affiliated with the Chinese communist party. That was 3 months ago. https://youtu.be/meWM8d4Uz7Q
[+] powerapple|3 years ago|reply
If you are talking about Chinese Communist Party, you are basically talking about everyone in China. It is like 1/10 Chinese people.
[+] asianbro234|3 years ago|reply

[deleted]

[+] josephcsible|3 years ago|reply
From the guidelines:

> Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, bots, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email [email protected] and we'll look at the data.

[+] paulryanrogers|3 years ago|reply
What parts of the article make it propaganda?

It struck me as balanced since it minimized the harm in this case yet raised the alarm about inconsistencies between what company said was happening and what this instance proves does happen.

[+] Ancalagon|3 years ago|reply
I fail to see how this is propaganda…